Kodak, Rosneft, ‘Johnny Football’: Intellectual Property

By Victoria Slind-Flor -
Nov 15, 2012

Eastman Kodak Co. (EKDKQ) won more time to
negotiate and propose a reorganization plan that would allow the
132-year-old photography pioneer to exit bankruptcy.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper yesterday extended
until Feb. 28 Kodak’s exclusive control of its Chapter 11 case,
rejecting a request by a group of creditors to let other parties
submit reorganization plans.

Kodak, based in Rochester, New York, plans to sell a
portfolio of patents and some money-losing businesses and exit
bankruptcy by mid-2013. The company has said it will build a
profitable business around its commercial printing division.

Kodak has proposed borrowing $793 million to operate while
under court protection and to fund its exit from bankruptcy.
Centerbridge Capital Partners, GSO Capital Partners, UBS AG (UBSN) and
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) are among second-lien creditors
participating in the financing, Kodak said Nov 12. The agreement
requires court approval.

Funding is conditional on selling the patent portfolio for
at least $500 million, progress in the sale of two business
units and the resolution of the company’s U.K. pension
obligations, Kodak said.

Another group of second-lien creditors opposed giving Kodak
more time to file a reorganization plan and expects to oppose
the financing as well, Michael Stamer, an attorney for the
creditors, told Gropper yesterday. The group is concerned that
another group of lenders won’t have a chance to offer a
competing loan package, Stamer said.

Kodak Chief Executive Officer Antonio Perez has been
selling businesses to help fund a turnaround after seeking
Chapter 11 protection in January.

The case is In re Eastman Kodak Co., 12-10202, U.S.
Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

AstraZeneca Responds to Adverse Seroquel Patent Ruling

AstraZeneca Plc is “disappointed” with a court ruling
invalidating a patent for a drug used to treat bipolar disorder,
the company said in a statement Nov. 13.

The London-based pharmaceutical company was responding to a
ruling by the Federal Patent Court in Germany that found the
formulation patent for Seroquel XR (quitiapine fumarate)
prolonged-release tablets to be invalid.

Johnny Manziel is trying to trademark the term “Johnny
Football,” even as National Collegiate Athletic Association
rules prevent the Texas A&M quarterback or his family from
profiting from the mark while he’s a college athlete.

The Manziel family is working in conjunction with the
university to protect the trademark, the player’s likeness and
the freshman’s eligibility, said Shane Hinckley, assistant vice
president of business development at the College Station, Texas-
based school.

Jay Jordan of the Tyler, Texas, law firm of J. Bennett
White is representing the family. He said in a telephone
interview that he couldn’t discuss legal or other strategies.

“We’re exploring every avenue and believe several are open
to us with regard to protection of ‘Johnny Football,’” he said.

Jordan wouldn’t say whether the family planned to use the
mark commercially or apply for extensions once their ownership
of the mark is granted by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Kenneth R. Reynolds Family Investments of College Station,
Texas, filed a “Johnny Football” trademark application with
the federal agency on Nov. 1. Jordan said the party is unrelated
to the Manziel family and that the application would be opposed.

“Efforts are ongoing to eradicate those who seek to pirate
the mark,” he said, declining to say whether Manziel has had
talks with the university about a co-licensing agreement.
Hinckley said the university wouldn’t profit from the trademark.

Stephen R. Hollas, the attorney listed on the Reynolds
Family Investments application, didn’t return a message left at
his office.

NCAA spokesman Wally Renfro didn’t immediately return a
message left at his office seeking comment on what an athlete
can and can’t do with a trademarked term. The Indianapolis-based
governing body bars players from profiting off their athletic
achievements.

Manziel, 19, skyrocketed to prominence after the 15th-
ranked Aggies defeated top-ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Nov.
10. Texas A&M climbed to ninth in the Associated Press Top 25
poll after that win.

The school’s website is taking pre-orders for Manziel’s No.
2 jersey, which wasn’t printed prior to the season because he
wasn’t a consensus starter. The most prominently displayed
football jersey on the site’s retail link is No. 12, which
represents the team’s crowd, known as the 12th Man. The
university holds a trademark on that phrase.

Manziel was at the center of “Manziel Mania” while a
multisport star in high school in Kerrville, Texas. No one used
“Johnny Football” until he emerged as the starting quarterback
at A&M.

YouView Loses Appeal of U.K. IPO’s Denial of Trademark

YouView TV Ltd., an Internet-connected TV service, has a
name that is too “confusingly similar” to the Your View
telecommunications firm, the U.K.’s High Court of Justice ruled.

Justice Christopher Floyd affirmed a determination by the
U.K.’s Intellectual Property Office, saying he was “unable to
see any error of principle” in the hearing officer’s approach
in her May 2012 refusal of YouView’s application to register its
trademark.

In his Nov. 11 ruling, he said wasn’t persuaded by
YouView’s argument that consumers would be able to distinguish
between “YourView” and “Your View” because one mark was one
word and the other was two. He said the hearing officer’s
finding that the two phrases were aurally similar “was a matter
for judgment and I do not disagree with her assessment.”

The case is Between YouView TV Ltd. and Total Ltd., in the
High Court of Justice, Chancery Division (2012)WQHC 3158 (CH).

Ford Files Application for ‘Black Label’ Trademark for Lincolns

The Ford Motor Co. (F), the 109-year-old automaker, has applied
to register “Lincoln Black Label” as a trademark, according to
the database of the U.S. patent and trademark office.

The application, filed Oct. 15, specifies that the term
will be used with passenger automobiles.

A number of other companies have used black labels to
indicate exclusive or expensive qualities, such as Jose Cuervo
Black Medallion tequila, and Johnny Walker Black Label Blended
Scotch Whisky.

For more trademark news, click here.

Copyright

Black Keys Settles With Home Depot, Pizza Hut Over Song Use

The Black Keys reached settlements with Home Depot Inc. (HD),
Pizza Hut Inc. and two advertising firms over allegations that
the companies used the rock band’s songs in commercials without
permission.

“The parties to this action have reached a settlement
agreement in principle that will result in the voluntary
dismissal of this action,” U.S. District Judge Otis Wright said
in a court filing in Los Angeles Nov. 13.

The Black Keys, a duo comprising Patrick Carney and Daniel
Auerbach, sued in June, alleging the unauthorized use of their
songs “Lonely Boy” in a Home Depot ad and “Gold on the
Ceiling” in a Pizza Hut ad. The group also sued Interpublic
Group of Cos. and its Martin Agency unit.

Wright set a settlement hearing for Jan. 7. He said the
hearing will be canceled if the parties file a proposed order of
dismissal.

Home Depot, based in Atlanta, is the largest U.S. home-
improvement retailer. Pizza Hut is a unit of Louisville,
Kentucky-based Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM)

The cases are Auerbach v. Pizza Hut, 12-05385, and Auerbach
v. Home Depot, 12-05386, U.S. District Court, Central District
of California (Los Angeles).

Apple Files Appeal of Chinese Copyright-Infringement Verdict

Apple Inc. (AAPL), maker of the iPod and iPhone, filed an appeal
of a Chinese copyright infringement verdict, Xinhua reported.

The petition appealing the infringement verdict by the
Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court was filed Nov. 13,
according to Xinhua.

The court had ordered Cupertino, California-based Apple to
pay Encyclopedia of China Publishing House 520,000 yuan
($83,500) in damages for allegedly using part of a digital
version of the encyclopedia without permission, Xinhua reported.

The newspaper reported that the digital version was offered
through Apple’s App Store.